Harvest Moon: The Meaning of Life
by Bandit-Rahl
Summary: JxK. This is my take on HM64, with slightly older characters. 23 year old Jack moves to Flowerbud Village when his grandfather dies, looking for the woman he loves and a place to start a real life for himself. Rated for adult situations. RR.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

When I had first come to Flower Bud Village, I wasn't sure how to feel about the place. I liked the city that I had come from, but it was sort of sad that at 22 years old I was still living with my dad. I just simply couldn't afford to move out since I was trying to work through my college courses.

But then Grandpa died. He left his will, saying that the farm was to be given to me, on the condition that I could work on it and make it prosperous over the course of three years. Dad had sent me out to Flower Bud Village--as soon as he heard about Grandpa's condition—with all of my belongings. Since he was the lawyer that worked on Grandpa's will, he had already known what was going to happen. Right after Grandpa's funeral, Dad let me know that he would be back in three years. If the farm was making money, it was mine. If not, he was going to sell it. That's how it was. And then he went back home, to the city.

I found myself wide awake and staring at the ceiling of my new home early in the morning following Grandpa's funeral. The events of the preceding day kept playing through my mind. I had come to the conclusion that I would probably like it in this little town, with its friendly people.

Most of the men that were there offered to lend me a hand if I needed it. Hal from Green Ranch said that either he or his son could help me out. Kai, a worker at the vineyard, offered to help me. All of the carpenters offered to fix up my buildings for me, and Greg the fisherman said he'd keep me supplied with fresh fish.

All of the girls did pretty much the same thing, and acted as though they had never met me before. At least, I reflected, I remembered most of the people from when I had visited as a kid. Popuri, with the pink hair, offered to come over and plant some flowers to make the farm look nice; her mother told me to stop by the flower shop, and she would give me some seeds to start my crops with. Ann, the tomboy, said that her family had an extra colt that they wanted to give away and that she would bring it over if I wanted it. Elli, the baker, said that she and the bakery owner would be willing to do some baking for me. Maria silently stood by her parents, the Mayor and his wife, and watched everyone. The only girl that I really wanted to see was the only one that wasn't there.

Before he escorted me to the farm, the mayor told me that my grandfather had had a last bit of wisdom that he wanted to pass on: we were meant to have a place and a family to call our own, and be able to fill our time doing work that fulfills us. That, the mayor said, is what Grandpa called the "Meaning of Life." I was a little confused and somewhat amused by that. The very concept of a job that we enjoy was something completely unbelievable to me; that, and I didn't feel ready to even think about raising a family yet.

I knew I should get up pretty soon. Although I was new to the place, that didn't mean I could slack off. When I had seen the condition of my fields, I almost fainted. There were so many rocks and trees scattered through the area, it would take me forever to get it ready for planting.

After shoveling down my breakfast, I stood in the yard for a few moments eying the path to the beach. If I kept my eye on it, I knew, _she_ would end up going by; if my memory was serving me correctly, she went to the beach every chance she got. I grabbed my grandfather's sledge off of the porch, and got to work.

By the end of day one, I had repaired the fence around the pasture/planting fields. The carpenters had been quick about their work, and had patched up the house, the barn, the horse stall, and the chicken coop. After the carpenters had left, Ann came by with a black colored colt. I could tell that she had someone with her, but because the other person was standing on the opposite side of the colt from me I couldn't tell who it was.

The colt's shoulder was as tall as my head, and I am by no means short. "I thought you said this thing was young," I remarked to Ann, causing her to giggle.

"He is," she protested with a smile. "His older brother is Cliffguard, a champion horse."

I smiled back. "Well, it looks like the gene pool he was swimming in is a good one."

Ann gave me a weird/confused look and I blushed. It would take a while, I decided, to get used to the fact that the only education people out here got was a basic one. I made my way around the colt, looking it over, and came to a stunned halt when I saw the person standing on the other side.

Karen had a disinterested look on her face, and her brilliant green eyes looked almost lifeless. Her brunette hair seemed to be duller than I remembered from when I last saw her, and it looked like she didn't recognize me. She looked like she weighed about half as much as she had been two years prior, but I thought she was still just as beautiful.

When I had visited my grandfather during the summers as a child, I had been really shy: I had left the farm only a couple of times. Karen was actually the only person my age I had met, and that was because the path to the beach was on the edge of the farm. I had been playing out in the yard one day and saw her as she was heading to the beach. We had started to play together every summer that I visited until I stopped visiting when I was about 16 years old. Even then, I didn't leave the farm. I was too quiet, and I still prefer my privacy.

When I was eighteen and she was seventeen, Karen ran away from home. I had found this out when she turned up at my dad's house with nothing more than a duffel bag and nowhere else to go. Thinking I was smarter than my father, I had tried to sneak her into the basement. It was my room, but it was the only place in the house she could stay. Dad, of course, noticed her even though he didn't say anything. Karen stayed with me for several weeks, seeing the sights and enjoying the city, until my grandfather and her mother showed up at my house to take her home. After that, we hadn't seen each other again.

I was crestfallen when Karen didn't show signs of recognizing me, but I quickly put a smile on my face. "Hi, I'm Jack," I said, holding out my hand.

Karen looked at me like I was an idiot. "Leave me alone." She turned sharply on her heel and took a couple of steps away.

Ann stepped up, her face alternating between nervous and what seemed to be her natural exuberance. "This is Karen," she said, introducing Karen since Karen obviously wasn't willing. "She works at the vineyard for her father."

"Nice to meet you, _Karen_," I called out, putting the smallest edge into my voice. I turned back to Ann. "So, what's the colt's name?"

Her happy face took over again. "We've been calling him Adonis, since he's huge and strong," she answered, "but I guess if you want to call him something else, that's okay."

"Adonis is a good name," I answered. Even with how down I was feeling Ann's smile was infectious.

In a move that took me by surprise, Ann threw her arms around me. "Take good care of him," she ordered as she hugged me. I thought I saw Karen stiffen out of the corner of my eye, but couldn't be sure. "I'll come by to see him often."

As she and Karen left, the sun was just setting behind the mountains. I stood in front of my new house for a few minutes, looking it over. Grandpa had definitely not left me with a tiny cabin. The house had two bedrooms--one with a large bed and a small one with a small bed—that were situated off to the side of the living room. The living room itself was huge, and had a stairway leading up to the roof of the cabin. I could remember going up there to watch fireworks with Grandpa when I was little. The kitchen and bathroom were off to the other side of the living room, and between them totaled at least the same amount of space as the living room did. I had been pretty happy to see that the stove ran off of propane, and that the bathroom included a full shower.

That was where I went when I headed into the house: the shower. After a day's work, I was dirty and ready to get clean. I let the water run for a moment to get it nice and hot, and then stepped in. Just as I was shampooing my hair, and had some shampoo covering my eyes, I smelled something that was both familiar and strange; I smelled something that I hadn't smelled for years. In fact, the last time I remember that scent was...

"Karen?" I called out, still blinded by the shampoo. A sudden breeze hit me as I heard the shower curtain get yanked away, and all of a sudden a woman's arms were wrapped around my neck. "What-How—"

"Quiet," she whispered in my ear, pulling me so that the shower head blasted the shampoo from my face. Her mouth quickly captured mine, and she pulled me tight against her. "Quiet now. Talk later."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

"We've got to keep this quiet," Karen had said, sitting on the edge of my bed and buttoning up her blouse in the predawn hours. "My father is forcing me to go out with Kai as an incentive to get him to stay and keep working the vineyard. If Father were to find out about us, he'd go ballistic. Whatever you do, don't let him find out about us, or that I told you that."

I stuck the last chunk of potato into the soil and rocked back on my heels, exhausted. In the week since that first night that Karen had spent with me, I had managed to clear out most of my field. I now had grass growing in over three-quarters of it, and had almost a thousand gold worth of potatoes growing in the rest. It would take a lot of effort, I knew, but I would work my fingers to the bone growing crops so that I could afford to start raising livestock. I knew that doing that would make me a lot more money in the long run.

Looking up at the sky, I noticed that the sun was nearly touching the mountains. I had been intending to run by the vineyard to pick up a bottle of wine, but I knew that if I was going to make it I had to be fast with my shower. I hurried as fast as I could, barely taking the time to towel myself dry, and I still hardly made it to the vineyard before it closed.

As I walked up the pathway, I was greeted by shouting. "Well, you _should_ let me have my way!" Karen's voice blistered the air. "You're such a horrible father!"

She stomped down the path towards me, apparently not even noticing that I was there. I reached out to grab her arm. "Karen, what's—"

The brunette girl jerked her arm away from me, sending her bleached bangs flying. Her green eyes flashed. "Don't talk to me!" she hissed. "Leave me alone!"

Although I knew why she acted like that, it didn't stop the sting. Over her shoulder I could see Kai watching us in the background, his purple bandana covering his head. Karen kept walking, and a great mountain of a man was now stomping towards me.

"Karen! Come back here!" he bellowed, before letting his head hang. "Why are you such an undutiful daughter?" his voice dropped to a whisper.

I nervously walked up to the man, holding my hand out. "Mister Gotz, right?" I asked.

He jerked his head up to me, his eyes red as though he was so stressed that he was going bloodshot. After a moment of staring at me, a semblance of a smile overtook his face. "Well, if it isn't little Jonathon!" he chuckled. "I haven't seen you since the last time you visited your old grandpa. You're taking over the farm now?"

"Yeah," I answered, shrugging in embarrassment. "It's starting to work out for me. And I go by Jack now."

"Good, good." Gotz's attitude seemed to have changed in an instant. The giant patted me on the shoulder, nearly bowling me off of my feet. "So what brings you out here?"

"Actually, I was hoping to pick up a bottle of wine," I replied.

He shook his head. "We don't sell it by the bottle over here," he told me, his voice getting quiet again. "You wouldn't want any wine from our vineyard, anyways. The grapes just haven't done right since my mother died. I'm headed for the bar, so if you want a bottle than come on. Duke'll sell you some."

The bar was a pretty lively place. Zack, the crop buyer, was there, and so were Gray, Jeff, and Hal. Gotz lead me over to a corner table that was about as far from the door as you could get. He ordered two glasses of wine which our waitress, Karen, promptly brought over. The old man watched his daughter walk away.

"She just doesn't realize it, Jack," he sounded melancholy talking to me. "I try so hard to not be stressed, but I have to deal with the pressure of the fact that I'm running my mother's legacy into the ground. The lack of success of the vineyard weighs on me like nothing else, and I just wish Karen could cut me some slack. Be a little more understanding."

I had a feeling that he wasn't looking for an answer, so I took a sip of my wine and watched Karen bus tables while he talked; something told me that he just needed to talk to someone, not be talked to. Every once in a while, Karen would throw me a hidden smile, one filled with promise.

I got caught looking.

"So, you still like her huh?" Karen's father asked me. "Sasha and I, we figured there was something there when she ran away to your house in the city. I messed with that, though."

"Oh?" I asked, already knowing what he was referring to.

Gotz's second glass of wine arrived, and disappeared just as fast. The old man was silent until he had downed half of his third glass. "The vineyard needs everything we can give it, Karen, Kai, and I," he explained. His face took on a pained expression. "It takes everything the three of us have to put out a really poor wine. I can't afford to lose Kai. So, I . . . ." he paused to down the rest of his glass of wine, then ordered a shot of whiskey from Duke.

"You . . ." I prompted, taking another sip from my glass.

He frowned at me. "I made Karen start to go out with Kai, to keep him here," he explained. "I know you like my daughter. I've known since the two of you first met fifteen years ago. But if I lose Kai, this town will go under. There won't be anything to bring money into it."

I leaned forward on the table. "Come on," I cajoled, "there must be some way that she and I can work out."

Gotz looked down at his array of empty glasses and laughed. His words were starting to slur. "Sure kid. Sure. I tell you what, you make the grapes as good as they were when my mother ran the place, and you two can work it out. Then I won't need a helper; I could make enough money just on what I can do."

At that, he got up and lurched his way across the floor and through the door, heading home. I waited until I caught Karen's attention, and then wiggled my eyebrows at her. She smiled at me again, and gave me a look that made my knees week. Somehow, I made myself get up to the bar where I bought a bottle of wine. Duke wouldn't let me pay for the drinks; he said that the first round for the new guy was on the house.

I took my time walking back to my house, whistling happily. From our silent exchanges in the bar, I knew Karen would be coming over tonight. It would be the first time since that first night, but I had a feeling that she was looking forward to it just as much as I was.

When I woke the next morning, sunlight was shining in through the skylights. I sat up with a start. "Damn!"

Next to me, Karen started to stir. "What?" she asked sleepily.

I grabbed my alarm clock to look at the time. "It's already ten o'clock," I told her. "Sleeping in like this is not going to keep us a secret from your father."

"Don't worry," she mumbled, pulling back down into a sleepy kiss that woke us both up. "Today is Sunday. I normally spend Saturday night at Ann's, and Sunday either with her or at the beach. She'll cover for us."

"So Ann knows about us, too?" I asked before returning the kiss. Karen's green eyes started to light up.

"Of course," she murmured into my ear before blowing in it. "Ann's my best friend. No secrets there."

_Well_, I thought as she covered my neck in little kisses, _I should at least try to put up some resistance. Just because she doesn't have to work today doesn't mean _I_ don't._ "I do have plants to water, you know."

She kissed me again to keep me quiet.

At almost one o'clock, someone knocked on the door and startled me out of my slumber. "I'm coming!" I shouted, trying to find my pants and shirt. Luckily, they were both lying together, and it only took me a moment to pull them on.

Ann was waiting at the door with a smirk on her face, but I could see something dark hiding in her eyes. "I was wondering if you've seen Karen," she asked sweetly. "I was supposed to meet her for lunch at the beach, but didn't see her."

I smirked back at the rancher's daughter. "If I see her, I'll tell her to get down there," I answered. Both of us heard the mumbling from the other side of the wall that was behind me.

Ann turned to go, her smile getting wider. "I'll see you later Jack."

After waving her off and shutting the door, I started picking up some of the assorted clothing lying around the floor. I threw Karen's clothes at her. "You have a lunch date that you're late for," I reminded her. "Get dressed and get out there."

By the time Karen left, I was so engrossed in watering my plants that I didn't even see her go. I finished the day off by taking my sickle to the tall grass lining my farm. I would need it for fodder, I knew. I was determined to make this work: the farm, Karen, my new life. All of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

"I'm gonna tell you a secret, Jonathon," Grandpa told me, reaching down to pat me on the head with one of his huge, calloused hands and then kneeling to help me tie my shoes. "Today, you're going to learn my secret to making the farm so successful."

"'Kay, Grampa!" I agreed, bouncing my right foot in the air while he worked on my left shoe. I sat quietly while he tied the other shoe, and then asked, "So what's your big secret?"

The old man grabbed my little hand to help me up. "I know you're only five, Jonathon," he said, "but I want you to know anyways. The farm makes so much money because I pray every day!"

"Pray?" I made a face. "Praying is boring."

"Well, my boy," Grandpa grunted, lifting me up onto his shoulders, "that depends on how you do it. See this ear of corn?" He waved the vegetable in the air in front of us. "This corn is going to help us pray."

He started walking, carrying us down the path away from the beach. We walked for what seemed like forever to my young mind, stopping in a small clearing in the forest. Grandpa set me down, and walked towards the little pond in the middle.

The cackle of birds outside my bedroom window roused me from my dream. I rolled over and swung my feet over the edge of the bed, swearing when they hit the cold floor. I looked over at my pillows, desperately wanting to just fall back asleep but knowing that there was something I had to do. My foggy brain fought to decide what I needed to remember, and I when I did I stood up in a rush. Yesterday, I had harvested all of my second potato crop. Today, I could afford to buy two cows and a chicken.

I was so excited about the prospect of owning livestock that I forgot that Hal didn't open the ranch's store until 8:00. I had to spend the first hour and a half of the day just wandering around, since there wasn't anything else to do. When I had paid for the animals, Hal said that he would deliver them to the farm.

Ann was waiting for me outside when I finished my business with her father. "So, what are you going to call them?" she asked, bubbling over with enthusiasm. Like usual.

I shrugged. "Haven't thought about it."

The redheaded young woman gave me a critical look. "Come on. We can go grab Karen, and between her and me we can figure out what to call your cows."

My eyes darted around, looking for an eavesdropper. "You know the rules about that," I whispered. "I'm not supposed to act like anything but a stranger around her."

Ann shrugged. "Fine. You act like a stranger, I'll keep acting like her best friend." She grabbed me by the sleeve and started tugging me towards the vineyard as she said it. I managed to divert Ann enough to let me get the animals situated on the farm, and to make sure they wouldn't be able to make their way through the fence surrounding the pasture. By the time we got to the vineyard, it was already nearing four o'clock.

When we arrived, we couldn't find Karen by the house or the wine cellar. Ann led me deeper into the vineyard, past row after row of grapes until we got to the back corner. I remembered the area from when I was a kid. I could remember a huge, beautiful tree that stood guard over the vineyard.

The tree that stood there now looked dead. It had no leaves on its branches, and the bark was flaking off of its trunk. I could see Kai sitting against the tree playing with the knot on his purple bandana, and after a moment Ann and I could see Karen balancing herself on the rails of the fence lining their property.

When he saw us, Kai scrambled to his feet. "Please don't tell the Master," he said hurriedly, a worried look on his face. "We were just taking a moment's break. It's just so hot out here . . ."

Ann rolled her eyes and waved him back down. "Like I would say anything," she sighed. Kai sat back down and the farm girl turned her attention to her friend. "Jack can't think of any names for his new cows," she told the brunette. "I brought him up here to see if you could think of any."

Karen shrugged and started to do some slow dance moves on the thin rails. "Moo One and Moo Two?" she suggested, twisting her voice to make it sound as sarcastic as she could but telling me with her eyes that she meant it as a joke.

The redhead snorted. "You should get down before you hurt yourself," she cautioned.

Karen rolled her eyes, and turned to hop down. Her left foot slipped as she moved, catching on the rail; her right foot hit the ground, and all four of us could hear the _crack_ as her ankle twisted under her weight.

She flopped onto the ground with a gasp, and immediately gritted her teeth against the pain. Kai stood up in a rush, looking around in panic. "I'll go get the Master," he rushed, turning and running back towards the house.

I watched him run, shaking my head. "Real nice guy you're seeing, Karen," I told her after he had disappeared. "You get hurt and he runs away."

"No jokes!" she snapped, her green eyes blazing with pain from behind her bleached bangs. She moaned. "My ankle hurts _so_ bad. Please help me." Her plea sounded like a little girl's.

With a sigh, I crouched down next to her. "I broke my ankle when I was a kid, so I know how bad it hurts," I told her. I slipped one arm underneath her knees and wrapped the other around her middle. "It's really going to hurt when I pick you up. If you don't want it to hurt even more, try to keep your leg relaxed. Ann will make sure that it doesn't hit anything, okay?"

Karen nodded with tears dripping down her cheeks, and Ann hurried over to crouch next to the offended ankle. The injured girl wrapped her arms around my neck and tried to prepare herself for the pain. When I lifted her up, she shrieked through clenched teeth and then buried her face in my neck.

Ann and I hurried to the church building in town, knowing that the pastor was the closest thing to a doctor that the town had. Kai and Gotz were just coming out of the house by the time we were passing it; Kai stood there gaping at us, but Gotz shook his head and followed.

When Pastor Carter saw Karen, he simply clucked his tongue and broke out his medical supplies. He kicked Gotz, Ann, Kai, and I out while he went about putting a cast on Karen's ankle.

"How did this happen, Karen?" Gotz bellowed after we had been allowed to see Karen, taking a deep drink out of a bottle of wine that he had procured from Goddess-knows-where.

"It's our fault," I spoke up quickly. I could tell that the whine he had been drinking was starting to affect him and I wanted to head off any trouble. "Ann and I went up to the vineyard to see if Karen had any ideas on what to name my new cows. She and Kai decided to take a break to talk to us and—"

Gotz patted me on the shoulder, nearly knocking me off of my feet. "Jonathon, you know I like you, but I thought we talked about this. It just isn't meant to be. You kids should all head on home now, I'll take Karen back home when she's ready."

"Not so fast, Master Gotz," the pastor spoke up. "I don't think Karen will be able to stay at home for a while. She not only broke her ankle, but she tore up her knee pretty bad. With this cast on her leg, there's no way she can make it up the stairs in the house."

Ann's exuberant grin returned, even with it being the late hour that it was. "She can stay at my house," she gushed. "My bedroom's on the first floor, so there isn't any stairs that need to be bothered with. And you know that Dad wont mind."

That's when Karen spoke up. "I'd rather just stay in my own bed," she insisted. "There's a bathroom on the second floor, so I won't have to use the stairs for anything until I'm better."

"Fine." Gotz pointed at me before he bent over to pick his daughter up. "Go home, Jonathon."

Kai followed me out of the church and kept pace with me for a few moments. "Thanks for covering for us," he told me quietly. We stopped walking and faced each other; he held out his hand. "We were never introduced. I'm Kai. I help the Master and his daughter at the vineyard."

I shook his hand, surprised at the strength of his grip. "I'm Jack. I just took over my grandfather's old farm."

We started walking again, and passed the bakery in silence as we both headed home. "Did you know the Master's daughter before you came here?" Kai asked tentatively.

"I used to visit here when I was a little kid," I replied. "She was the only person that spent time with me. I was too shy to leave the farm, but she came over to play."

"Karen, outgoing?" Kai asked skeptically. "I have a hard time seeing her like that."

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as we approached the point where the path split. "You're dating her, right?" _And you don't know her any better than that?_

He nodded, flushing. "I've known her for years," he confided, "but I don't really know how she feels. Karen never seems to want to talk about anything, and I don't know why. All anyone other than Ann really knows about her is that she wants to go to the city. She doesn't say much of anything else, even to me."

We said our goodbyes, and headed in separate directions. I couldn't help but shake my head as I walked. Kai seemed like a nice guy, but I felt sorry for him. Nice people are okay, but he just didn't seem that bright. It didn't take a genius to figure out that her father was often abusive, at least verbally. Ever since we had hit our teenage years, I could see how the cursing and screaming that she and her father did affected how she acted and felt.

The more I thought, the more resolved I became. I was absolutely going to find a way for Karen and I to be together, but I would have to start thinking. What could I do?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

The evening after Karen broke her ankle found me in the bar. It was a particularly quiet night: other than me, Gotz was the only customer. He had been there drinking long before I had arrived, and kept giving me suspicious looks from across the room for the hour that we were there together.

Duke pulled out a chair at my table and set two glasses of beer down. "You know," he began idly in his deep voice as he sat down, "when you work in a social setting like this, you can see how things change. And things have been changing."

I took a long drink out of my fresh mug of beer. A tingly sensation running up and down my spine was screaming "Danger!" "Oh?" I asked cautiously.

The older man crooked an eyebrow, but showed no other evidence of anything on his face. "It was commented to me a couple of nights ago how Karen is starting to act friendlier and be nicer to everyone in here." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, studying me for my reaction. He lowered his voice to be sure that Gotz couldn't hear us. "I must admit to having noticed it myself. But that wouldn't be all I've noticed."

Taking another drink of my beer, I tried to steel myself. This could be bad. "Oh." This time it came out sounding rather weak.

Duke sat across from me silently for a minute and then leaned forward to take his first drink from his mug. "I noticed her giving someone some rather, ah, _pointed_ looks on several occasions."

My eyes widened and I started to panic. It was obvious from how Duke was talking that he knew exactly what was going on. This was the last thing that needed to get out. My mouth opened, but no words came out. Behind Duke, I could see Gotz getting up out of his chair and stumbling towards us. Now I began to panic in earnest, my eyes darting around and looking for someplace that I could run. Duke reached across the table and clamped down on my arm with a steadying hand. Gotz walked past us with a slurred "G'night" and left.

I chugged the last of my beer, and almost dropped the glass down on the table. Duke simply watched me for several silent moments, slowly draining his own drink. He smiled at me. "Don't misunderstand me, young Jack. I know Karen better than anyone else does. She has always turned to me as a father, and I love her like the daughter I never had. I know what she's involved in, and I know _who_ she's involved _with_. Also, I know how her attitude, her outlook, and even her health are improving. I know who's responsible." Duke got up and picked up our empty glasses. "Come back behind the bar for a moment."

My knees were rubber as I followed him. I wasn't sure yet whether to be relieved, or if I should still be scared. Duke set the dirty glasses down and reached under the bar to grab something. When his hand came out, it was clutching an old bottle of wine. "I want you to try this," he told me, pouring a small bit of wine into two fresh glasses. "Tell me what you think."

Obediently, I clutched the glass. When the wine hit my tongue, it was like an explosion of flavor that I couldn't explain. Just the taste of the wine brought tears to my eyes, and made me forget all of the problems I was involved in and dealing with. I stared at the glass in wonder, and gaped at Duke.

"It's called 'Door to Heaven,'" the distinguished old man told me in a quiet voice. "When Gotz's mother ran the vineyard, this is the wine she produced. It's so rare now that this is the only bottle that I know of. She always told people that it would help them feel better no matter what. She always said that it was made of magic." I nodded my agreement to the description, still feeling almost euphoric. Duke re-corked the bottle and held it out to me. "I want you to have this, as a thank you."

My mouth was hanging open. "But . . . I . . . . You . . . If this stuff is that rare, you shouldn't give it to me! It's valuable!"

Duke shook his head and pushed the bottle into my hands. "Seeing Karen happier is all of the value I need," he told me softly. "Take it."

I carefully cradled the bottle in my hands. "I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"There isn't anything you can say," Duke answered with a smile, pulling a wet rag out from under the bar and beginning to clean the dirty glasses. "I visited Karen today. She's pretty out of sorts, what with being cooped up in her bedroom all the time. If one of her childhood friends came and paid her a visit, it would probably raise her spirits immensely." He punctuated the statement by raising an eyebrow again.

I left the bar blushing, allowing Duke to lock the doors and get some sleep. The next morning, I breezed through my chores. It was getting to be late spring already; the weather forecast called for rain the next day so I made a mental note to put the cows in the barn and the chicken into the chicken coop before I went to bed. Outside, the single egg the chicken laid found its way into my incubator and the calves were all too eager to be brushed.

It was about one o'clock when I managed to make it up to the vineyard with the bottle of "Door to Heaven" wrapped in a paper bag and tucked under my arm. I knocked on the door of the house, and after a few moments it was answered by Karen's mom, Sasha. Her hair was a much lighter color than Karen's and she was much taller than her daughter. Sasha's eyes and face, however, seemed to be stuck looking sad. As though there was nothing that made her happy anymore.

"I was wondering when you would show up, Jonathon," she told me with a sad smile, gesturing that I was to enter.

"It's Jack now," I corrected her. She frowned at me, prompting me to explain. "'John' is short for 'Jonathon', and 'Jack' is a nickname for 'John'. 'Jack' just sounds friendlier."

Sasha nodded her understanding then raised her hand to indicate the stairs. "Karen's room is the first door on the left," she told me. Her smile seemed to lose some of its sadness. "Gotz and Kai just finished lunch, so they will be out among the vines for the next few hours. I've got to start preparing some stuff for the Flower Festival next week."

I made my way up the stairs and knocked on the first door on the left. "Come in," Karen's voice sounded utterly bored. Pushing the door open revealed the young woman sitting on her bed and looking out the window. Her hair—with the exception of her bleached bangs—was pulled back into a ponytail, allowing her bangs to frame her face. When she looked at me, I could see some life spark into her eyes.

"It took you long enough to come visit," she griped as I kicked the door closed. Her eyes stopped on the package in my arms. "I hope that's something to drink."

I grinned. "That depends. Is there a couple of glasses in the room?"

She pointed over at a cupboard that had a handful of empty wine bottles under it. I pulled two glasses out and, making sure she couldn't see what I was pouring into them, filled them half full. I re-corked the bottle in its bag, and set it down on her bedside table. I handed Karen one of the glasses and sat next to her on the bed.

"Sorry I'm so late," I apologized, leaning forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I heard you're miserable up here, so I brought this for you. I guarantee it will make you feel better. To us," I finished holding my glass up in a toast. Karen smirked and matched my movement, then took a sip from her glass.

Her bright green eyes widened. "This is . . . Where did you get this?" She demanded. "This is the wine that Grandma made. How did you get some?"

I could tell that the wine was already working, and she was feeling better. She had an excited smile on her face, and was much more animated than she had been when I had come in.

"Duke gave it to me," I explained. "He said that he wanted to say 'Thank you' for making you happier."

Karen's face flushed a bright red. "So he noticed, huh?"

The two of us drank two or three more glasses and sat around talking until we heard Gotz and Kai heading back towards the house. I hopped up and grabbed the bottle of wine so I could head out before Gotz caught me and decided to lecture me.

"Jack, do me a favor," Karen called out as I was grabbing the doorknob.

"Sure."

"She took a deep breath. "Kai is the Harvest King this year. Everyone votes for the Harvest Goddess, but the Goddess has to dance with the King. Popuri is going to vote for Elli and Maria will probably vote for me. Elli will probably vote for me, too. They seem to like the idea of a 'boyfriend/girlfriend' pair doing the job. I was wondering if you could see about making sure I'm _not_ voted into the Goddess job. I hate that dress."

I blew her a kiss. "Sure. I'll see you later."

I was barely out of sight of the house when Gotz got to the front door, thinking about what Karen had said. After a little bit of thought, I determined that I would have to ask Ann for help. I stopped back by my house to drop off the bottle of wine, and threw a saddle on Adonis. Even though he was still technically a colt, he was huge enough that Ann had brought me some tack to use for riding him.

The trip to Greene Ranch was a quick one on horseback. Ann, not surprisingly, was out in the field playing with the animals. When asked if she wanted to go for a ride, she quickly agreed. We made our way up onto the mountain where we were alone, and I passed along Karen's request.

Ann looked thoughtful for a moment then laughed. "No problem!" she assured me. "I'll step up and take one for the team. I'll convince my dad and brother to vote for me. If you add your vote to theirs, then there's no way Karen'll have to wear that dress."

I frowned, guiding Adonis around a fallen tree. "What do you mean, 'take one for the team?'" I asked.

The redhead laughed. "You think I _want_ to dance with Kai?" she giggled. "Do I look crazy?"

Tugging on the reins to turn Adonis around, I smiled and shrugged. That made Ann laugh even harder. "If that's what we're going to do," I suggested, "let's head back. I want to get my vote for you in while I still remember."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

Karen got her cast off the day before the Flower Festival, but the Pastor still insisted that she had to be careful about dancing. When the day of the festival arrived, I rushed to get the cows milked, brushed, and fed, and to get my chickens fed and the eggs picked up. Then it was time for a quick shower, and a hurried ride on Adonis to get to the town square on time.

"The girls will be out in a minute, Jack," the mayor assured me when I arrived. "You'll find out who will be this year's Goddess then. Until then, mingle." Following his orders, I went over to talk to the Potion Shop owner's two young grandsons, and the shipper's daughter. After talking to them for a good fifteen minutes, I made my way over to Rick's little shop to buy a couple of glass bottles, and then over to where Lillia was standing to buy some pink flower seeds.

By the time I finished shopping, the girls were coming out. First came Maria, dressed in a simple dress and carrying a fistful of yellow flowers. Next, Elli walked out. She was followed by Popuri. All three girls were similarly dressed, with flowers in their hair and hands. Last out was Karen. She was dressed in her normal clothes, but wore a simple skirt over her pants.

Like everyone else, I got in line to receive the Goddess' "blessing." What that meant was that each girl kissed each person on the cheek and gave them a flower, saying "May this year be good to you," or something like that. I wasn't paying much attention to what anyone was saying. I was just looking forward to the dance.

Karen kissed my cheek for a second longer than necessary, conveying her thanks for what Ann and I had pulled off. When I got to Ann, she skipped the kiss on the cheek to give me a hug. "You _so_ owe me big for this," she assured me in a whisper quiet enough that Kai, who was standing right next to her couldn't hear. The dress she was wearing shimmered around her, casting off glints of light that were every color of the rainbow. I found myself wondering what Karen would look like in the dress.

After going through the ceremony, I stopped to watch the others go through. It seemed that the mailman, Harris, stood looking into Maria's eyes longer than necessary; also, you could see the dark-haired girl blush. Gray let his fingers linger on Popuri's when she handed him his flower. Jeff, the bakery owner, and Elli both blushed when their fingers touched. I started to wonder.

Once everyone had finished, the mayor yelled for everyone to grab a dance partner. Kai and Ann walked together to the center of the square, followed by Gray and Popuri, Elli and Jeff, Harris and Maria, Lillia and her husband, and Sasha and Gotz. Karen limped over to stand next to me as the music for a fast dance started.

I chuckled as the dance pairings confirmed my suspicions. It seemed as though everyone in the town had someone they wanted to be with, with the exception of Ann. I knew that she wasn't interested in me as anything more than the friend I was, but that didn't leave anyone I knew about to pair up with her under other circumstances.

"What are you laughing at?" Karen demanded, giving me a small grin.

Still laughing, I told her. "Who would have thought that strong, silent Gray would be interested in Popuri?" I asked.

She started to giggle, too. "Well, Ann always has said that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed," she replied. That made me laugh even harder as the music soared through the town square.

The fast music started to wind down, and a slow song took its place. "Since Kai still has to dance with Ann, will you dance with me?" I asked the brunette girl I was with.

Karen gave me a small smile, one small enough that no one on the dance floor would see it and know that this had been planned, and we moved out onto the dance floor. Even with her obvious limp, she still proved better at dancing than me as we swept our way around the others.

"The fireworks show is going to happen in a week," Karen reminded me as we moved.

"So?"

"I'm going to spend the night at Ann's for the fireworks," she answered with a grin. "You wouldn't believe the view from their fields."

I nodded. "So . . . . . What about Kai?"

Karen shook her head, her hair bouncing so that it hid her eyes. "What about Kai? I want to spend the time with my best friend."

That's when the music cut out. "That's a wrap everyone!" the mayor called out. Karen pulled herself out of my arms.

"Thanks for the dance, Jack," she said, walking over and grabbing Kai's hand. Even though I knew why she did it, the action still hurt. I turned my head to see Ann looking at me.

"Can I walk you home?" I asked her, holding my arm out. She smiled at me and slipped her arm through mine, allowing me to lead her out of the square. "So, I hear Karen's spending the night at your place for the fireworks," I began.

Ann arched an eyebrow at me. "That's not what she told me," she answered. We stopped walking, and I looked down at her face. I was confused for a moment, until I caught the meaning in the smile and the twinkle in Ann's eyes. We started walking again.

"You know," I said conversationally, "if she overuses that excuse, somebody's gonna figure it out. I mean, what's going to happen if Gotz shows up over at you place wanting to talk to Karen?"

"He won't," Ann assured me. "All Dad will do is say that we're doing 'girl stuff' and Gotz will leave us alone."

I groaned. "So, your dad is in on it, too."

The redhead smiled at me as we turned off of the path to head to her family's ranch. "And Grey and Zack the crop buyer and Jeff and Harris and . . . Actually, the only people I know of that haven't figured it out are Kai, Gotz, the mayor, his wife, Maria, and Popuri. Everybody else has gone so far as to ask me questions about you two."

"I should have known that you can't keep a secret like that in a village this size," I sighed. We walked in silence for a couple of moments until I remembered the dream I had been having, the one where my grandfather was talking about praying to the Goddess. I asked Ann if she knew anything about it.

She frowned. "I might. Can you be done with your chores by noon tomorrow? And can you have some of your harvested crops with you?"

"Sure."

"Good. Have Adonis saddled and ready to ride. We'll see about finding the Goddess Pond, if I remember where it's at."

True to her word, Ann did remember. She led me halfway up Moon Mountain, then turned us off of the well worn path. The path we were then on had obviously not been used a lot, but she still seemed confident about our destination. As we rode, Ann told my about this guy she was interested in, Cliff. He was Karen's cousin, she told me, and usually only came around for half of the year each year. After she told me about him, she started asking about what I had done with myself back in the city. I talked about the psychology, gym, and science classes that I had taken at the college, and told her about the hellish fast food job I had tried to work.

Ann laughed, saying it was funny that someone with that background would end up running a farm. I didn't see anything particularly amusing about it.

Before long, we rode into a sheltered glade. In the middle of the peaceful little meadow there was a pond with a stream starting at its edge and running away. We got off of our horses, and slowly walked towards the pond. "Okay," Ann said, "here's what you need to do. Throw the potato that you brought into the pond, and then wait."

As soon as the potato hit the water, we heard a startled exclamation. Both of us jumped, startled, and began to look around for the source of the voice. The water in the middle of the pond began to bubble and froth, and out of the center of the disturbance rose a woman. The woman was tall and had green hair, and wore a dress somewhat similar to the Goddess dress Ann had been wearing the day before. The difference was, this woman's dress seamed to be woven out of a rainbow itself. She was a beautifull woman, but no age showed on her face. You couldn't tell how old she was until you looked in her eyes. The smile she wore traveled up into her green eyes, but they showed countless years of wisdom.

"Well," the Goddess exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "a worshipper! And it's a grown up Jonathon!"

Ann and I looked at gaped at the Goddess, then at each other. "How do you know who I am?" I asked cautiously.

The Goddess smiled at us. "I can remember a time that you came up here with your grandfather," she answered. Her smile grew wider. "You asked if I could play with you. It was very cute. Now, I can grant you one wish. Would you like someone to love you a little more, would you like to be a little stronger, or would you like the chances of good weather to be better?"

I was shocked. I hadn't been prepared for a game of "20 Questions." "Weather would be nice," I mused.

The Goddess inclined her head. "Than that's what you'll get," she told me.

"Wait!" Ann shrieked as the surprise wore off. She kicked me in the leg. "That's not what we're here for. Focus, Jack!"

"Right," I said sheepishly, looking back at the expectant Goddess. "Here's the problem. The vineyard isn't doing well. They say that the grapes haven't been the same since Karen's grandmother died. I. . . We came up her to ask for your help in restoring the grapes to what they were."

"That's the job of the Grape Spirit," the Goddess answered, giving me a blank look. Understanding washed over her face. "The spirit must be asleep.

"I'll make a deal with you, Jack," the Goddess told me, gliding towards the edge of the lake. "I'll go wake up the Grape Spirit _and_ grant your wish about the weather if you promise to come up here more often."

I stood there staring at her for a minute, my mouth hanging open. "I. . . I . . .Of course," I stammered. The Goddess smiled at Ann and I, waved her hand, and disappeared.

Ann and I rode down the hill in near silence. The only talking we did was agree not to say anything to Karen until we knew that the Goddess had done what she said she would.

We split up when we passed my house. I took enough time to check on my animals, and then I headed down to the beach to think. Karen wasn't there, so I sat there by myself until it started to get dark. That's when I headed home to go to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

The rest of the week between the Flower Festival and the fireworks night passed quickly. The eggs I had been incubating had hatched and the chicks had finished growing up, leaving me with a full hen house. I had purchased a Miracle Potion from Ann's dad, and it was obviously doing its job since one of my cows was now pregnant. Basicly, between my animals and the remainder of my growing crops, I had my hands full and hardly left the farm.

When the first day of summer arrived, Karen came over just like Ann said she would. The two of us sat on the roof my house, wrapped up in a huge comforter as we watched the midair explosions.

The next morning, I went about my chores as normal while Karen slept. Apparently, she didn't need to head back to the vineyard until late in the afternoon, so she was intending to spend the day with me once she woke up. With that in mind, I had gotten up early to take care of my animals and limited shipping.

When I finished with my chores and started heading towards the house, I noticed someone sitting on the ground, leaning on the shipping crate by the mailbox. He had long, unruly brown hair and looked extremely dirty.

The young man looked like he was hardly breathing as he sat there. "Food," he whispered when I got close enough to him. "I need food." He sounded pretty bad, so I reassured him and went into the house to grab some rice balls. In the bedroom, I could hear the rustle of clothing as Karen got dressed.

When I got back outside, the young man scarfed down the rice with vigor. After he finished, I remarked, "Next time you're hungry you can just ask. Leave the acting to the professionals." I held out my hand. "I'm Jack."

He flushed a bright red, but chuckled and gripped my palm. "I'm—"

"Cliff!" Karen's happy shout suprised the both of us. She came flying through the front door and down the stairs to throw her arms around the man I was talking to. "Did you just get here? How long are you staying this time? Have you been to the vineyard yet?"

Cliff rolled his eyes. "Yes, I don't know, and, uh, no? If I had been to the vineyard already, I wouldn't have been trying to bum food off of Jack here. Thanks for the grub, though. I owe you one. " He looked over at a very confused me, his arms still around Karen. His eyes twinkled when he noticed Karen's bare feet. "Maybe I could get my cousin here to pay you back," he joked.

I found myself liking this young man. He had to have guts, I admitted to myself, to come onto a complete strangers farm to try to get food. "Do you need a place to stay?" I asked.

The young man nodded, but Karen answered for him. "Dad doesn't really get along with Cliff," she told me. "He thinks that someone who doesn't hold down a job isn't worth being around. That means that Cliff can't stay at my house. There's no way he could stay at the ranch, and no one else around here has any room for him."

"I'll probably stay up on the mountain in the Harvest Sprite's Cave," Cliff told me. "I need to be somewhere that Cain can go, too."

"Cain?" I raised my eyebrow.

Cliff let go of Karen and held one of his arms out. His shrill whistle sliced through the air, and was answered by a bird. With a _whoosh!_ a huge hawk landed on his outstretched arm. "This is my pal, Cain," Cliff told me. "He travels everywhere with me."

I gave the bird of prey a dubious look. "I was going to offer to let you stay here," I remarked, "but I can't really afford to lose any chickens."

His eyes and Karen's lit up. "You would let me, a stranger, stay here?" he asked. "I can promise that Cain wouldn't touch any of your animals. He knows better: all he ever eats are rabbits and small birds."

"We can solve two different problems for you at once, then," I told Cliff, spreading my hands. "If you want a job, you can help me out here. I'll pay you, and you can stay rent free. You'll just be responsible for your own meals. You can take something of a pay cut and use a portion of the crops, or you can use your money to buy stuff from town. I'll pay you a hundred gold a day to start, and when I see how good you are, we'll adjust that."

Cliff jerked his arm, and Cain took to the air. He reached out and grabbed one of my hands. "That would be great," he gushed. "I won't impose on you. I'll stay in the barn with the cows; that's good because I like animals anyways. So, what do you want me to do?"

I barked out a laugh. He certainly was eager; this wouldn't be too bad, I decided. "Nothing for today," I told him. "I've already finished everything. Go ahead and get yourself situated, and be ready for work at dawn."

After he rushed away, Karen slid her arms around my neck and gave me a long, deep kiss that left my knees weak. "Thank you for helping him," she said. She let go of me and turned towards the path to the Greene Ranch and town. "I'll be back in a little bit," she called over her shoulder. "Why don't you pack up something to eat, and we'll head down to the beach for a swim? It's the middle of the day, so no one will be going down there. Oh," she finished, flashing me a secretive smile, "plan for four."

Just after I had started to make the sandwiches, Cliff knocked at the door. "Do you think I could use your shower?" he asked hopefully. "I hate to be a problem right off the bat, but I do sort of stink."

"Just through the door there," I waved in the right direction with a knife covered in peanut butter. "It takes the water a minute to get warm, so watch out." Cliff hurried past me, clutching a change of clothes and a towel. I stood still in the kitchen, waiting for a moment, and was rewarded with a shout when the water turned on. Chuckling, I shook my head and went back to making sandwiches.

About ten minutes later, Ann and Karen barged into the house wearing swimsuits. "All right," Ann huffed, trying to catch her breath. "Where is he?"

"He?"

The redhead frowned at me. "Karen said he was here, so where _is _he?" she demanded.

I was slightly taken aback. I had never seen Ann like this before. "He's a little indisposed," I answered delicately, packing the prepared food into a bag.

Ann rushed out the door, obviously looking for Cliff. Karen leaned against the wall, watching me. Somehow, I managed to keep my composure even with her standing there in a two piece bathing suit.

Behind me, I could hear the door to the bathroom squeak open. "What's the noise?" Cliff asked as he came out wearing shorts and a tanktop that showed off some well toned muscles.

Karen shook her head. "Nothing," she answered before I could speak up. "We're gonna head to the beach, you interested in coming?"

Cliff nodded. "Sure. Just let me go put my dirty clothes away." He ran out the door.

We heard a loud thud and a shriek. "You should watch where you're going, you oaf!" Ann screamed as Karen and I stepped out onto the porch. She was lying on her back on the ground, wearing an angry expression. "You can't just walk around running into people!"

The young man she was screaming at was scratching his head. "Sorry," he mumbled, extending his hand to help her up. When she had regained her feet, Ann looked into his eyes then threw her arms aorund his neck.

The four of us spent nearly the entire afternoon down at the beach, either swimming or tanning. For the first time, as I sat there watching Karen bask in the sun, I realized what Duke had been talking about: how she had been changing. Her hair was no longer dull, as it had been when I had first arrived. She seemed to have gained a little bit of weight and was no longer skeletal looking. Finally, just looking at her face, she seemed more alive and happier than she had when I had moved onto the farm. When it started to get dark, we all headed to our homes.

The Vegetable Festival came and went on the 9th of Summer. Much to the joy of both me and Zack, the buyer, my tomatoes won the competition, allowing us to charge more to sell my farm's produce to people outside of Flower Bud Village. My pockets were finally being lined with money. Now if only things would get worked out for me and Karen.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

Having Cliff working on the farm with me turned out to be both good and bad. Good because with his help we were able to plant, maintain, and harvest almost three times the number of crops that I could handle on my own. Bad because that meant that I almost never left the farm. Still, Karen did visit every Sunday, and that made it easier to handle.

When the 17th of Summer and the Firefly Festival rolled around, Cliff and I stayed at the farm to put in some extra work because the swimming festival was coming up on the 24th. The farm needed the work; we were making 3,360 gold every three days or so off of the corn and tomato harvests. I used some of the profits to pay Cliff and to have the carpenters build a little shack behind my house that Cliff could move into, and saved the rest to go towards building a greenhouse so that we could continue to make money during the winter.

When I saw Kai at the bar the nights that I went there, he seemed to be drinking more and more. Listening to him talk revealed that he felt that things between him and Karen were getting worse, and I honestly felt bad for him. Harris, on the other hand, was drinking less and saying flowering things about Maria. Gray could be caught smiling, and Jeff wore a constant blush. Cliff, even, spent the evening sitting next to Ann and talking in quiet voices. Meanwhile, all I could do was listen to Kai complain and share secretive glances with Karen as she bussed the tables.

The end of Summer found Cliff and I with a barn full of grown cows, a coop full of grown chickens, and twenty-five thousand of the thirty thousand gold I needed to get a greenhouse. We planted forty squares worth of eggplants on the first day of fall knowing that the profits from those would finish paying for the greenhouse.

Before that could happen, the fourth of Fall rolled around and with it the Cow Festival. On the third, Hal came over from Greene Ranch to pick up my oldest cow for the competition. Everyone in the village, as well as many people from other places, were gathered around the fields of Greene Ranch to see whose cow would win first place.

Cliff and I were feeling pretty intimidated as we made our rounds, tasting all of the milk and looking over the cows themselves. I was embarrassed to have actually entered the competition, since I was entirely new to the whole farming thing.

When the awards were called, an out of town ranch named Azalea Ranch won third place. Second place was awarded to Greene Ranch, and everyone attending held their breath as they waited to hear the name of the winner.

The mayor was standing up on a small stage with a gourmet judge. "And the winner of this year's Cow Festival is . . . ." He took a deep breath, pausing for the drama. "Jack!"

My jaw dropped, but nobody seemed to notice my shock. Instead, there was a round of applause. The gourmet judge was nodding his agreement. "The milk is full of vitamins, delicious, and very nutritious. A true winner!"

Woodenly, I made my way up to stand next to my prize winning cow. Cliff came up to stand on the other side, and a photographer snapped a photo of us. As soon as the photographer headed away, Hal was there to say that he'd take the cow back to my farm.

Ann rushed up to throw her arms around Cliff's neck and covered his face in congratulatory kisses. She was followed by Kai, who was holding Karen's hand. Kai shook my hand and said congratulations. "You are formally invited," he told me with a smile, "to the bar for a round of drinks on everyone else. As winner, you get all your drinks bought for you tonight."

"I'll be there," I promised. I didn't really want to go to the bar tonight, because I was dead tired, but if they all wanted to do this for me, I could at least put in an appearance. For the couple of hours I was at the bar, it was more of the same: Harris talking about Maria, Jeff talking about Elli, and Gray quietly smiling whenever anyone mentioned Popuri. Cliff and Ann threw their own little party in the corner.

Since Cliff and I only had to take care of my livestock and water the plants on the next day, I headed into town to get some lunch at the bakery. I ordered a sandwich and a piece of apple pie, and Jeff sat down across from me with a cup of tea.

"You know, it's weird," he told me after a few minutes. "Karen's now my number one customer. She started coming in last week, and she goes through almost a whole cake every two days."

I shrugged. "So Karen likes cake. What's weird about that?" I asked around a mouthful of egg salad.

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Karen _hates_ cake. I only saw her in here a couple of times before last week." I stared at him, silently chewing my sandwich for a few moments. Finally, I asked him how Elli was doing, just to talk about something that made sense.

The next two days went by fairly quick as well. The eggplants were nearly ready for harvest, so I made sure to get plenty of sleep on the night of the sixth. On the seventh of Fall, Cliff and I were barely able to get all of the eggplants harvest and into the shipping bin before Zack came by to pick them up early. He gave me the money, which I turned and handed to Cliff. My helper took all of the thirty thousand gold we had saved, and rushed to the carpenter's house to order the greenhouse for the farm.

Cliff had hardly been gone for five minutes before Karen came rushing onto the farm. "Jack, you have to come with me," she gushed excitedly, pulling at the arm of my shirt. "Come on, Jack! Hurry!"

I gave up with a sigh and followed her to the vineyard at nearly a dead run. When we came within sight of the grapevines, I had to stop in shock. Karen ran ahead of me, and began dancing with the millions of balls of light that were flitting around the vines. The air seemed to sparkle, and you could practically see the grapes plumping up.

Karen came dancing back to me. "It's the Kiefu Fairies, Jack!" she told me, thrilled. "I haven't seen them since Grandma died, but they're back! Now we can start to make some really _good_ wine!"

From behind me came the click of a camera, and I turned to see Gotz and Sasha standing there. "I can hardly believe it," the giant man murmured, watching his daughter dance with tear filled eyes.

Kai came walking up to the three of us from the wine cellar and stood with us in silence for several minutes before letting out a deep sigh and turning to walk to the shed that he lived in. I tore my eyes off of Karen and jogged to catch up with the young, bandana wearing man. "What is the sigh for?" I asked. "Everyone else seems pretty happy."

He stopped walking and turned to look at me. "This means the vineyard is back on its feet. I'm going to head back home soon, and see my family."

I followed the younger man into his shack. "The vineyard is gonna do better, so you're just going to pack up and leave? I would have thought that you would want to stay and cash in on some of the profits."

Kai pulled his purple bandana off and flopped back onto the bed. "The Master told me that my contract was up when the vineyard started doing better. But he said that he would send me a quarter of the first years profits when it happened. That should be enough to support my mom and sisters for a while."

"What about Karen?" I asked after a pause. "Aren't you going to ask her to come with you?

He was staring up at the ceiling. "I'll stay long enough to help them bring in the harvest," he mused. "But Karen wouldn't want to come with me. She always said that she wanted to go to the city, but she loves it here too much; even in spite of her relationship with her father." Kai shook his head. "I don't think I'll even ask her."

When Kai fell silent, I quietly walked back outside. I felt buoyed, happy, and yet at the same time I felt bad for Kai. He honestly liked her, and I knew Karen had feelings for him, even though she would never admit it.

I still couldn't help but be amazed at the little blobs of light that were flying around the vineyard. The giant tree in the back corner, I could see, no longer looked as though it were dying. Its branches were now sprouting leaves, and the bark was turning a more natural color. I sent my eyes skyward and said a little prayer to the Goddess, resolving to visit her pond more often.

Gotz and Sasha were embracing, watching the dancing lights and Karen as they all floated around the vines. I watched for a couple of minutes longer, then headed home. I had a lot of work to do the next day: a farmer was never without anything to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

On the morning of the ninth, I woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs, and toast. I groggily drug myself out of bed and pulled some clothes on, then stumbled through the living room and into the kitchen. When I made it to the kitchen door, the smell of burnt food invaded my nostrils.

The smoke alarm started to beep. "Karen, how did you do it?" Cliff's laughter could hardly be heard over the noise of the alarm. "All you were trying to make was some hard boiled eggs. You burnt the water!"

Now fully awake thanks to the alarm I watched Karen stomp across the kitchen, muttering curses under her breath as she dumped the kettle of water into the sink. I had to laugh out loud when I noticed that she hadn't even put the eggs in the water yet.

The young brunette woman glared at me, and I had to duck under the flying pot that she launched in my direction. "What's going on?" I asked Cliff, stifling a yawn. The kitchen clock read 5:30 AM.

With an ease that would have made a chef jealous, Cliff twitched a frying pan and flipped the eggs over that were in it. "Kai's leaving this morning, so we thought we'd make him breakfast. It's just a simple breakfast, but it's something to say 'Good bye' with."

I grabbed one of the pieces of toast and smeared some butter on it. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Karen throwing a worried look at me as she popped a bite-size piece of cake into her mouth. "Since you all woke me up early, I'm gonna go out and take care of the animals," I told Cliff, taking a big bite of the toast. "I'll water a third of the eggplants, too. The rest of them will be yours to do."

Cliff waved an acknowledgement at me and glanced up at the clock. "Uncle Gotz, Aunt Sasha, and Kai will all be here in two hours. This here is for the three of us, since I figure you'll want to get some work done before Kai's boat leaves at eight-thirty. I'll send Karen out to get you when they get here for breakfast."

There was a light mist outside as I made my way over to my horse's little stall. "Good morning, Adonis," I said, rubbing my hand on his snout. He snorted into my palm and then started nuzzling my chest. I laughed. "You know where the pond is when you're thirsty, but if you'll get out of the way I'll throw some oats into the bin for you."

The chickens were still asleep when I opened the door to their coop. When I picked them up, they hardly blinked at me as I collected their eggs. Ten minutes and a couple of handfuls of feed later, I made my way to the cows. They, at least, were up and about when I started feeding them. I took my time milking them, and then started brushing their coats.

I was humming to myself, feeling pretty good. The shipping crate in the chicken coop was full, the milk crate in the barn was full, and I knew that in a couple more days we'd have another harvest of eggplants. Hiring Cliff on to work the farm with me had turned out to be one of the best decisions I had ever made.

"We need to talk, Jack."

Karen scared me half to death when she spoke, which in turn caused the cow I was brushing to spook. I threw a smile over my shoulder as I patted the cow to calm it, noticing the serious look that Karen had on her face. Karen normally looks serious, but when she _is_ serious, it's enough to get anyone's attention.

"Sure." I moved on to the next cow, and Karen took a seat on a stack of crates that were standing next to the fodder spout. "What's up?"

Karen took a deep breath. "Lately, I've been getting these weird cravings. Out of nowhere, I would want some cake. I've never craved sweets like this before! Cake and candy have never been something I wanted." She paused.

"Ann sent me to the midwife to see if she could figure out what was going on." I could hear panic start to edge its way into her voice, and it was starting to put me on edge. "She did."

I had to stop brushing the cow and brace myself against the stall. I thought I knew what she was getting at, but I didn't want to say it out loud. "And?" I ventured, holding my breath.

"I'm pregnant."

For some reason, knowing something and having someone tell you that same thing produce completely different reactions. Knowing that she was hinting at it made me feel panicked; hearing her say it would have knocked me off my feet if I hadn't braced myself. All of a sudden, my wits were scattered. I was having a hard time thinking, standing, even breathing. I felt an insistent tugging on my arm, and blindly followed its suggestion to sit on the crates that Karen had vacated.

She sat down on my lap, touching her forehead to mine. _Wake up, fool!_ Part of my mind was screaming. _Wake up! _I clenched my eyes closed since the light filtering in from outside was suddenly blinding.

"What are we going to do, Jack? A secret like this will get out sooner or later."

My mouth moved like a fish trying to gulp air. "W-w-who knows about t-this?" _Come on! Start thinking!_

I could feel her shaking, and knew that she was crying. Wrapping my arms around her, I could hear her sob. "Only the midwife knows. She said she won't say anything to Mom or Dad."

The fog in my brain was finally clearing up as the shock wore off. Really, I guess it shouldn't have been much of a surprise, what with how often she was spending the night at my house. My mind was frantically racing to find a solution, but came to a screaming halt when it hit on an idea. I laughed out loud and started to dig in my knapsack.

Karen's green eyes could have shot lasers at me, she looked so mad. "This isn't funny, Jack," she said crossly.

My searching hand finally found what it was searching for. "No, it isn't," I agreed, tucking the object into her hair behind her ear.

Her hand came up, and the expression on her face told me that she thought I had stuck straw into her hair. A flash of blue color caught her attention, and she gaped at the feather she was holding in her hand.

Now, all of a sudden, I was feeling anxious and nearly panicking again as she simply stared at the blue feather I had given to her. She stared at the feather with tears still in her eyes and I slipped my arms back around her. Several minutes passed silently with us sitting like that.

Her hands were trembling when she tucked the feather back into her hair, and they still shook when she placed them on either side of my head. Her first kiss was soft, but the ones that followed picked up urgency.

A loud banging on the locked barn doors caught the attention of both of us. I lifted my head up out of the pile of hay we were lying in to glare at the door. "Hurry up, you guys!" Cliff shouted. "They'll all be here anytime! Get out here."

Karen and I sat up in a rush, sending hay flying and looking at each other. "Damn!" I said.

"Shit," she agreed with a smile. I gaped at her for cursing so openly as she started sifting through the hay for her shirt.

"I guess I'll have to come out here later to finish with the cows," I mused as I collected my clothing. "Although after that, they'll probably never want to eat hay again."

Karen giggled as she pulled her pants on; she stuck the feather in her pocket. "I think I'll wait until after Kai leaves to start showing this off," she told me, giving me a small, special smile. "I don't want to hurt Kai's feelings. But as soon as the ferry's gone, I'm gonna have to go see Ann."

When we got back into the house to help Cliff cook the breakfast, he was giving us strange looks. The looks I sent back were the typical, happy looks that I normally wore. Karen somehow managed to look like she normally did: neutral. She didn't look happy, and she didn't look sad.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. No one other than Cliff and I talked, and all we talked about was the farm. We finished eating, and we all walked down to the beach with Kai. He gave Karen, Gotz, and Sasha each a goodbye hug, and shook Cliff's and my hand with an invitation to come and visit him and his family in the town of Asse sometime.

As soon as the fairy was out of sight, Gotz and Sasha headed home. Cliff and I were headed into town, so Karen walked as far as the path to Greene Ranch with us. My farmhand and I headed to Rick's shop to pick up some stuff.

We had been making so much money off of the farm that we didn't even blink at the seven thousand gold we spent. I bought a room organizer and a huge oriental carpet for the house, and a room organizer to go inside Cliff's little house. We were just handing Rick the money when we heard a chorus of excited female shrieking from outside.

Cliff threw me an exasperated look. "You gave her the feather, didn't you," Rick stated, shaking his head. "Great. Now, it's going to be hard to keep them in stock. Thanks to you, everyone is going to be getting married. That's how these things work. It'll be like an avalanche: once it gets started it doesn't stop. Get going. I'll have this stuff sent to your house," he finished, waving his hand at us.

The two of us managed to duck into Saibara's next door shop without being noticed by the group of girls that were now standing outside by the library. In that shop, I paid twelve-hundred gold for a blue ocarina Saibara had made, and managed to convince him to part with the red dyed vase he had made for another fifteen hundred gold. We asked him to have the stuff sent over with what we had bought from Rick, and he said it would be.

This time when we went outside, we weren't so luck as to avoid the girls. Karen tackled me as soon as I was clear of the door, and the other girls all crowded around Karen, Cliff, and I. Ann, I noticed, was giving Cliff some hard looks.

"You've made a big mistake, Jack!" the fiery redhead told me with an angry look. She threw her hands in the air. "Today's Thursday! You know that the wedding's going to be held on Sunday because that's the tradition. You only gave us two days to plan Karen's wedding!"

The expressions on the faces of Popuri, Elli, and Maria were very similar to Ann's, prompting me to try hiding underneath Karen. Eventually, the girls pulled my betrothed off of me and hustled her off in the direction of Maria's house. Cliff gave me a hand standing up.

"Did you see those looks Ann was giving me?" he demanded as I brushed myself off. I nodded. "Now you've gone and gotten me in trouble. That look means _I_ am going to have to ask _her_, and soon."

"The problem being . . . . What?" I asked.

Cliff rolled his eyes. "What would I do, ask her to move into that little shack I have? There's no room at her dad's ranch, and there's no way I could survive living back at Uncle Gotz's place. We would have nowhere to go."

I threw my arm around my friend's shoulders and we started walking back towards the farm. "I'm sure you'd find that everything works itself out," I assured him.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

When Sunday arrived my only concern was, oddly enough, the fact that the eggplants were supposed to be harvested today. That concern was alleviated, however, when my best man—Cliff—came over for breakfast. He assured me that he would take care of the shipping that afternoon so I shouldn't worry about it.

It took some time, but eventually the two of us were dressed up and headed for the church. I was glad that Gotz had confronted me on Saturday so that it wouldn't be a problem at my wedding. He had grouched about not being told before I asked her, but then he started whining about how he was going to lose his little girl. He finished angrily, letting me know that if I hurt her I would answer to him.

That guy is actually pretty funny. To look at him, you would think he was a hard, cold, angry man. The reality of the situation is that Gotz is stressed and afraid; less stressed now but still afraid because his little girl, someone he has always loved more than himself (even if he didn't show it) was now being taken out of his life.

Our wedding was a short, simple ceremony with a plethora of drinks afterwards. Everyone in the village was there, and all of the men were "paired up" with the girls they liked for the post-ceremony dance and drinking. Not surprisingly, my workaholic father was nowhere to be seen, but right then I didn't care. When we finished, Ann came up holding the reins to Adonis. I helped Karen up onto my—now _our_—horse and got on behind her; Adonis leapt into a canter almost immediately, carrying us up to the little bed and breakfast slash restaurant at the top of Moon Mountain.

Cliff and Ann had promised to take care of the farm, so we had nothing to worry about for the two days we were up there. We took some criticism from the elderly couple running the bed and breakfast for taking such a short honeymoon, but it made sense to us. I'm a farmer and can't leave the farm for a long period of time, and there wasn't really anything for us to do on our honeymoon that we hadn't done before.

Coming back down from the mountain, we made it to town just in time for the harvest festival. Everybody congratulated us as we all waited for Elli to come out with the slices of cake, and we all sampled the foods that everyone had made. Including Popuri's odd tasting salad.

When Elli handed out the slices of cake it was Cliff who ended up with the coin, becoming the new Harvest King. I could see a little smile on the faces of all of the young women when he was forced to dance with Ann. Karen and I danced in a little private corner of the town square.

When we got back to the farm, we found out that Karen wasn't the only pregnant thing there. Two of my cows were now pregnant; I felt a little sad that I would only be able to keep one of the calves because of the size of my barn, but we would turn a tidy little profit from it. Not only would we eventually have another milk producing cow, but the cows that give birth immediately start producing _more_ milk themselves. I found myself deciding to build a larger shipping bin in the barn to accommodate the increase in milk that my cows would soon be producing.

True to his word, Cliff had shipped the last batch of eggplants along with the one that followed. There was a sack full of gold coins waiting for us on the living room table, a cool twelve thousand and eighty gold. I dipped a little into my savings, and set the money aside to pay a visit to the carpenters the next day.

Early in the morning on the 13th of Fall, when I got back from visiting the carpenters, I started doing some hardcore planting. I figured that between the three of us, Karen, Cliff, and I could easily handle all of the chores we had. After digging out the tomato seeds that I had bought before the greenhouse was built, I started planting. Several hours later I stood back, looking at my handiwork with an impressed Cliff and Karen standing with me.

The eggplants, I figured, we would continue to harvest until the end of fall. After that, all of the growing crops would happen inside the greenhouse where I had planted all of my tomato seeds. I did some quick math, and almost fainted when I had the answer.

I had planted 90 plants. At a value of ninety gold per harvest per plant, that meant that in thirteen days (with some help from my wife and best friend), we would rake in a profit of eight thousand one hundred gold. Followed by an equally profitable harvest every three days. Add to that the Gold quality milk that my six cows were putting out and the eggs from the chickens, and we would be making one hundred and sixty-two thousand, six hundred gold _per month_.

Karen and Cliff looked faint when I told them, and I could hardly believe it myself. That evening after doing all that work, Cliff let us know that he was going to propose to Ann that night when they went to the beach. He knew that he wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time with her now before their wedding would happen, but shrugged and said that that's life and a job's a job. For the good attitude and the inordinate amount of help he had been to me and the farm, I upped his wages for the fourth or fifth time and threw him a little bonus.

After a little discussion, Karen and I decided to allow Cliff a week off of work for his honeymoon. The brown haired man almost couldn't believe it when we broke the news; he returned the favor, though, by announcing that Ann decided that she wanted to work on the farm with us. They would be willing to live in the little shack that Cliff was already in, he told me.

The wedding ceremony seemed to go by quickly, and Ann and Cliff disappeared up the mountain immediately afterwards. Karen and I were getting ready to head home and prepare for the huge amount of work we had ahead of us when we got intercepted by the Potion Shop owner. It turned out that he wanted his grandsons to start taking on chores; both of them wanted to work on a farm, though, so he wanted to know if we had some stuff that could keep Kent and Stu occupied. Karen and I agreed, and said that we would pay their "allowance" to the Potion Shop owner.

It surprised us, but the boys were an exceptional help. They were able to take care of the chickens, brush the cows, and help water the crops. While they couldn't do near as much as Cliff could, they were still able to take the edge off of the work.

When Cliff and Ann rode back onto the farm, there was a surprise waiting for them. Before when I had gone to the carpenters, I had asked them to do a renovation of Cliff's shack for me. Now instead of a little one room building, a full sized house with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, and bathroom was standing in its place.

The other newlyweds were shocked speechless. After touring their house for several hours and making it habitable, the four of us walked up to the mountain to have dinner next to the stream.

The farm was doing well, and I had gotten married. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was in a place where I truly belonged.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harvest Moon

On the sixteenth of Spring, Karen gave birth to a brown haired little girl. After a good deal of discussion, arguing, and stress, we settled on naming her Cassandra after my mother. Shortly after Cassie's birth, Ann and Cliff had a red haired boy they named Stephen.

Year after year flew by in a rush. Eventually, the Kiefu Farm became the primary source of income for Flowerbud Village. Not only did the farm bring money in, but it also supplied income to the village in the form of providing jobs for several people. Kent and Stu kept working with us, as well as Ann, Cliff, and Karen. May, Zach's daughter, even occasionally came over to do some babysitting for Ann and Karen.

After the four of us got married, it seemed to start a trend. Within a year, all of the eligible bachelors and bachellorettes had been married. Jeff married Elli, Gray married Popuri, and Maria married Harris. Oddly enough, they all seemed to have their kids at nearly the same time.

Five years after I had arrived in Flowerbud Village, I found myself sitting on the front porch of my house, Karen nuzzled into my side. All of the outside fields were filled with vibrant grass, and had a dozen cows grazing in them. Chickens pecked the ground around the walkways and near the greenhouse, occasionally squawking in terror as the growing Cassie or Steve chased them around the yard. In the background, I could hear Cliff and Ann having one of their normal, heated arguments. They would argue for hours, I knew, but you would never know it to see them afterwards. Even after so much time, they were still deeply in love with each other. Just like Karen and I.

This, I understood now, really was the meaning of life. Just like Grandpa had said. This is how things were meant to be: we were meant to have a place and a family to call our own, and be able to fill our time doing work that fulfills us. That was the truth of life, I know knew. To live life to it's fullest, every moment of every day.

I pulled Karen tighter against my side. Today was a good day to live.


End file.
